Mobile-phone companies have been accused of hiring untrained sales agents who inadvertently leak customers' personal data. Privacy Commissioner Stephen Lau said the most serious complaints were about inexperienced sales agents sending debt collectors to the wrong address. Other complaints concerned agents who carelessly handled personal data such as ID card numbers and addresses in public places.
'Because of intense competition, many companies hire sales agents who have not been properly trained and very carelessly handled personal data and expose them in public places,' he said. 'Staff should be trained to obtain and cross-check the addresses of customers so they don't sent debt collectors to the wrong people.' Mr Lau, whose office is completing a report on complaints against the industry, will meet representatives within a month. He did not believe there was any criminal intention to mishandle private data but called on phone companies to train staff properly.
Complaints against the telecommunications industry jumped from 26 in 1998 to 70 last year, making it third on the commission's private-sector blacklist. The service industry ranks first with 240 complaints while the finance sector has 188.